German Chocolate Cake

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hrs
  • Servings: 12

    • About This Recipe

    “This is the traditional light chocolate cake with the coconut and pecan icing that we remember from our childhood. Note: if you are making the 3 tiered version, I highly recommend you make more of the icing. (It also doesn’t hurt to do that if you are making the 2 layered version. Ha ha!) Please use the ingredient amounts in parentheses to increase the yield by about 50%.In response to the one-star review: Yes, it *was* originally called German’s Chocolate Cake but most of the mixes, recipes and ads for selling a cake like this, that I see, call it “German Chocolate Cake”. That is also what everybody I know calls it and what I would search for if I was looking for the recipe. Therefore, that’s what I’m calling mine.”

    Ingredients

  • 1/2 cupboiling water
  • 4ouncessweet cooking German chocolate
  • 2cupssugar
  • 1cupbutter, softened
  • 4egg yolks
  • 1teaspoonvanilla
  • 2 1/2 cupscake flour
  • 1teaspoonbaking soda
  • 1teaspoonsalt
  • 1cupbuttermilk
  • 4egg whites, stiffly beaten

    • Coconut Pecan Frosting

  • 1cupsugar( 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1/2 cupbutter( 3/4 cups)
  • 1cupevaporated milk( 12 oz. can)
  • 1teaspoonvanilla( 1 1/2 tsp)
  • 3egg yolks( 4 egg yolks)
  • 1 1/3 cupsflaked coconut( 2 cups)
  • 1cupchopped pecans( 1 1/2 cups)

    • Directions

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 9-inch square pans or 3 8-inch round pans. Line bottom of pans with wax paper.
  • Pour boiling water on chocolate, stirring until chocolate is melted; cool. Mix sugar and butter in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs yolk, one at a time. Beat in chocolate and vanilla on low speed.
  • Mix in flour, baking soda and salt alternately with buttermilk, beating after each addition until batter is smooth. Fold in egg whites.
  • Divide batter among pans. Bake square pans 40-45 minutes or round pans 35-40 minutes. Check for doneness with toothpick in center. Cool and top with Coconut-Pecan Frosting.
  • Coconut Pecan Frosting: Mix sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and egg yolks in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 12 minutes. Take off heat. Stir in coconut and pecans. Beat until spreading consistency. Allow to cool & thicken before icing cake.

    • Reviews

  • “Awesome cake! Couldn’t eat enough of it. My family loved it also! So much better than mixes.Great with vanilla icecream served with it. Of couese, I can only splurge like this every once in a while.”

  • “BEST.CAKE.EVER!!! >br/br/

  • “One of my new favorites! I made it as a bday cake 🙂 so glad I discovered this fantastic and special cake. Coconut pecan frosting is really exceptional ! thanks a lot Marg(CaymanDesignes) for the recipe :)”

  • “Thank you for an awesome recipe!It was easy and delicious and looked beautiful!I use a springform pan that has a glass bottom, so it’s even easier to serve and remain perfect.I also love that I have yet another recipe that I can make gluten free by omitting the bottom crust layer.”

  • “This is the birthday cake that my mother made me every year.Now that we live in different states I have to make it myself – and I do.I can’t say enough good things about this recipe.”

  • “My MILs favorite cake is German chocolate cake.So for her birthday I decided to make her a cake.Her son (my brother in law) and I debated whether or not we should include the cocunut and pecans (we’re not fans) and decided, hey if the recipe calls for it then lets go all in!This was my first cake from scratch and it was a huge success! I kept it in the oven for 43 minutes in 2 square pans. I prepped it just as suggested and it was happily devoured by 8 people, sometimes picky father in law had seconds!I think its important to use the cake flour and make sure you really whip those egg whites to guaruntee a delicate, fluffy cake.Great Recipe. Thanks for sharing!”

  • “Made this cake for my very good friend for his birthday. He said it was the best German Chocolate cake he had ever had. Everyone raved about it. Even my husband, who doesn’t usually eat cake thought it was incredible.”

  • “I apologize for rating this so long after trying the recipe.All I can remember is that my cake was as ugly as sin, but tasted awesome!I believe that the cake caved in after baking, (probably something I did) so it was swayback and even after frosting, it looked pretty sad. Of course it was for my dad’s birthday and so I was embarrassed–but it tasted so good no one cared.Thank you for sharing!”

  • “Thank you for posting this — it is on the back of the German’s Baking chocolate wrapper and I lost my copy! I mean I know I was gonna get another copy when I bought the chocolate but I didn’t know any of the other ingredients! Yikes! This cake is awesome! I personally don’t like it as I don’t like chocolate cake or coconut! EVERYONE else LOVES IT! It is my mom’s favorite cake and she requests it each year on her b-day! This year when I my MIL tasted my mom’s cake she immediately requested one for her birthday too! Making that one tonight! 🙂 Thanks again!”

  • “I’ve made this twice now and everyone has LOVED it.Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!”

  • “This cake is extremely moist and delicate! Fabulous! I’m so glad I decided to nix the cake mix – this cake is definitely worth the extra minutes you spend making it from scratch! No comparison! One reviewer commented that it takes a long time, but I didn’t think it took any longer than any other from-scratch recipe I have. I didn’t make any changes to the recipe itself, but I did double the frosting recipe because I opted for the 3 round layers and torted & filled them.”

  • “I made this cake this weekend for a birthday brunch and oscar party.It received rave reviews!It was so moist!I did a little altering though, I didn’t use the boiling water, I melted my chocolate in the microwave, and added 1/2 cup sour cream.Thank you for sharing!I will definitely be keeping this recipe on file!”

  • “This is definitely a lot of work, but the taste makes it worth it — delicious!I forgot to line the pans with parchment paper, so they were a big, stuck-on mess… I’ll definitely remember next time!LOLStill tasted great!I second the recommendation to make a double batch of frosting; there definitely wasn’t enough for all three layers.Thanks, Marg!”

  • “This was my favorite cake as a child; so I was excited to try this recipe since it closely matches my mother’s.Everyone loved this cake and I’ve been asked to bake it again.This one is a keeper.”

  • “I already had a german chocolate cake mix so I just used the icing recipe. It was a wonderful addition to the cake! I also used brown sugar insted of regular white sugar. The color was a dark brown but the color was great. I also poked holes in the cake to pour the rest of the evaporated milk in the cake itself. I will try the whole recipie nest time.”

  • “Amazingly delicious cake.Moist and rich with the most incredible frosting I have ever tasted!I could just eat that by the spoonful.I made for my DD’s birthday and she wants it every year now!Thank you .Ann”

  • “Marg, I’m glad that you posted this because my grandmother’s copy is disintegrating.I make the frosting to put on another cake and it is definitely perfect.”

  • “OMG this was amazing, made this for sunday nite dinner with my BF’s parents and it was a hit!!, I put the pecan coconut mix between the layers and on top then put a light chocolate icing on the outside.Then I decorated the top with whole pecans and the sides with crushed pecans and coconut.I will definately make this one again!PS its important to let the icing mixture cool, as it will thicken up more as it does for those that are having problems with it.”

  • “I remember this from my childhood. It is one of the few cakes my mother made, usually to take to church or give to someone. Eating a piece of this is an OMG…to die for moment. The icing is in a class all by itself. This was my Number 1 favorite cake until I ate what is known as an Earthquake Cake Recipe #97322…and all that gooey decadence pulled ahead to make it Number 1 and this Number 2. I only make either one maybe once or twice a year because either one is a “special treat” and a real treasure when you take that first bite.”

  • “I just used the frosting, but it was DELICIOUS! Yummm! Thanks!”

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